-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Bankers get a bad press . If they are not in news studios trying to defend their annual bonus being more than most people earn in a lifetime , they are attempting to brush off the latest multi-million pound fine they received for ripping off the public .

Not so in the latest edition of the Global Talk Finance program . Representatives from the banking sector talk enthusiastically about how they 've reformed their risky business practices and raised billions to fight against poverty and climate change . They herald the introduction of a `` Robin Hood '' tax , where speculators pay around a 0.1 % tax on their financial transactions , as a `` triumph . ''

Ok , so it may not strictly be real life . The news anchor is played by `` Walking Dead '' star Andrew Lincoln , he quizzes characters played by some of Europe 's biggest stars -- Bill Nighy , Clemence Poesy , Javier Camara and Heike Makatsch who says the tax was `` a profoundly important moment -- it 's been good for business and it 's brought billions for jobs in Europe . ''

Yet fiction is not so far away from reality . Eleven European countries , including France , Germany , Italy and Spain are signed up to a Financial Transaction Tax which could raise up to 30 billion pounds annually and be implemented as early as next year . It is the best chance we have of ensuring those responsible for the crisis pay their fair share to put things right .

Unfortunately the UK is refusing to join in , even attempting to block the proposal with a groundless legal challenge in the European Courts of Justice . As Bill Nighy 's character demonstrates masterfully as he squirms out of questions over how the money could help stop cuts to public services , it means the UK will also lose out on the benefits .

Bill Nighy has been involved with the `` Robin Hood '' tax campaign since its inception in 2010 . He came with us to see first-hand the impact of the financial crisis only a few miles away from its epicenter in the City of London .

A food bank in the London borough of Putney , where emergency food parcels are given out to those in the most dire need , had seen numbers increase 50 % in a year . There are now over 350 Trussell Trust food banks across the UK , at one point opening at the rate of one a week , as people struggle to make ends meet in a perfect storm of public service cuts and decreasing standards of living .

Yet the devastation wreaked by the crisis rippled out far beyond national borders . Oxfam estimates it left a $ 65 billion dollar hole in the budgets of the world 's poorest countries -- the people least responsible for the crisis are paying the heaviest price .

Meanwhile back in the financial sectors of London and New York , bankers were cushioned from impacts of their own actions -- public money bailed them out and continues to subsidize them today . But it 's not just about ensuring banks give something back , it 's about refocusing our economy away from the fool 's gold of financial sector riches .

Financial products such as derivatives can be useful for the economy -- they allow a haulage company , for example , to buy a petroleum future , meaning their costs are predictable over time . But all sense of proportion has been lost , the market in derivatives is now a mind-boggling 70 times the size of global GDP .

This frenetic swarm of speculative trades may earn a small cabal of the super-rich ever more money , but it brings with it huge risks and when things go wrong , as they did so spectacularly five years , ago billions can be wiped from the real economy . The low rate of the tax would help curb these speculative trades whilst avoiding impacting on people 's pensions and savings .

As the film 's director David Yates , best known for directing the final four films in the Harry Potter series , said : `` I agreed to direct the film because the `` Robin Hood '' tax is a simple yet brilliant idea . We need to learn the lessons of the financial crisis and ensure that banks and hedge funds work in the interests of society not the other way around . ''

He 's not wrong . As France and Germany are due to make an announcement on the tax and countries will agree the details in coming weeks . Let 's hope they agree the best possible tax that raises the most money -- it will help create a financial sector we can all be proud of .

Read more : U.K. moves to block Europe 's Tobin tax

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Simon Chouffot .

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Eleven European countries , including France , Germany , Italy and Spain are signed up to a Financial Transaction Tax

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Campaigner Simon Chouffot says FTT could help deal with the devastation wreaked by the financial crisis

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Harry Potter director David Yates directs the campaign 's spot staring Bill Nighy and Clemence Poesy